Employment and Internships

The Political Science Department has information available on internship and career opportunities on our Facebook page. Joining is easy, just click on the Facebook link by scrolling down on this page, look to the right and click “Facebook Group.” Confirm your email and you are ready to go!

Below are examples of internships that our students have completed along with what they had to say about their experiences:

Zane Dundon, Class of 2018 — UNITE HERE Local 8, Portland, OR

“Working with UNITE HERE, Local 8 was extremely interesting and rewarding. I did many different kinds of research and organizing work, and was very rarely sitting at a desk in the office. Almost every day, I spent a substantial amount of time talking to workers and union members, and met some amazing people. The work I did was challenging, but always rewarding. Unlike at some other internships, I never doubted that the work I was doing with Unite Here was important and necessary.”

Rafael Swit — Senator Merkley, Washington D.C.

“As an intern with Senator Merkley’s office, you’ll get the opportunity to work under a dedicated and brilliant representative and a world-class staff. You won’t be just filing papers and reading mail — Senator Merkley ensures that his staff provides interns with substantive responsibilities such as research memos and drafting responses to constituent correspondence. The staff are nice, welcoming, and relaxed compared to a typical D.C. work environment. I could not have asked for a better place to start my career in public service.”

Sari Berger, Class of 2016 — Senator Feinstein, San Diego, California

“I really enjoyed my internship. I liked the people I worked with, and what I was doing. More often than not the work was interesting, and I was learning and doing new things most days. I gained skills needed to work in an office as well as communication skills. Part of the job was research, which gave me the opportunity to learn new things about unusual topics. As first person in line of contact for those who called the office, I got to interact with interesting people and learn about how people felt on the political issues of the day. There were some portions of the work that were low-end-of-totem-pole jobs, and if you cannot handle listening to people who fundamentally disagree with you this job is not a good fit, but overall I think it was a good position, and would recommend it.”